All my shares down 40%

[contractor79]

Yesterday I looked in horror at the value of my personal pension that I've been pouring thousands in over the past 3 years since I've been contracting. It was worth 30% less than what I had paid in. Same goes for my ISAs and non-ISA funds. These falls are no respector of sector, continent or risk factor.

Today I find that the FTSE is down up to another 10%. This means each £100 I put into the market in the last 3 years is worth only about £60-65 now.

What a kick in the teeth for trying to do the right thing.

And it would not have been better buying a house. Stamp duty, house price falls, interest rates going up - fckd there too.

Cash? I have 30% of my portfolio in cash or premium bonds. But the return on this is less than real inflation.

If I'm this fckd then imagine how much pension funds are going to be hit by in every company in this country. Imagine how much hit insurance companies are who are invested in with-profits funds etc.

Totally fckd my friends.

[Bagpuss]

At this moment in time yes. Forget about it for a year or two. It will eventually make it back.

Around 911 was exactly the same, a few years later and everyone was like a dog with two dicks again

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Ah well, who says there's no good news around eh?

[contractor79]

Endowments will fail to pay off mortgages etc. once again. Retirements will be delayed for years. And if unemployment goes up there will be riots, no doubt.

[sasguru]

Property is a reasonably sure bet. There are probably about 2 or 3 cycles per working lifetime. If you are lucky enough to be able to buy low(ish) and sell high(ish) on each of these cycles there's your pension right there.

[Bagpuss]

I didn't think you could still get endowment mortgages?

[AlfredJPruffock]

Yesterday I looked in horror at the value of my personal pension that I've been pouring thousands in over the past 3 years since I've been contracting. It was worth 30% less than what I had paid in. Same goes for my ISAs and non-ISA funds. These falls are no respector of sector, continent or risk factor.

Today I find that the FTSE is down up to another 10%. This means each £100 I put into the market in the last 3 years is worth only about £60-65 now.

What a kick in the teeth for trying to do the right thing.

And it would not have been better buying a house. Stamp duty, house price falls, interest rates going up - fckd there too.

Cash? I have 30% of my portfolio in cash or premium bonds. But the return on this is less than real inflation.

If I'm this fckd then imagine how much pension funds are going to be hit by in every company in this country. Imagine how much hit insurance companies are who are invested in with-profits funds etc.

Totally fckd my friends.

Im sorry to hear that.

If its any consolation - what about the US where all pensions are linked to the Stockmarket ?

Personally I have never subscribed to any pension schemes as I am against the notion that I cannot control my funds - nor the idea that if I croak it before pesnsion day I cannot pass that money on to my mistresses.

So I rebutt all notions of retiremnts and pensions - and if you havent considred this - even though you joined one - you dont have any pension scheme at all.

So its work till you drop.

Revel in Our Time

In fact the more I think about it the more I am glad my Porfollio consists only of WWS (wine women and song).

[DiscoStu]

It'll come back eventually, it always does.

[NoddY]

Im sorry to hear that.

If its any consolation - what about the US where all pensions are linked to the Stockmarket ?

Personally I have never subscribed to any pension schemes as I am against the notion that I cannot control my funds - nor the idea that if I croak it before pesnsion day I cannot pass that money on to my mistresses.

So I rebutt all notions of retiremnts and pensions - and if you havent considred this - even though you joined one - you dont have any pension scheme at all.

So its work till you drop.

Revel in Our Time

In fact the more I think about it the more I am glad my Porfollio consists only of WWS (wine women and song).

Pensions can be self directed and various schemes exist to allow more control. However, that's not the problem with pensions. The problem is they defer tax to a later date; and you cannot predict with any great certainty the tax regimes of the future.

Furthermore the monetary system makes a mockery of using any currency as a store of value. And in case you're thinking of gold - because of the large reserves of gold held by central banks then gold is a de facto currency too and can be made to behave as such.

[ThomasSoerensen]

Ah well, who says there's no good news around eh?